Disney Layoffs: 20th Digital Studio Folding, D23 Team Downsized
As we are kicking off Day 3 of Disney’s second round of layoffs, here is information on a couple of cuts that happened Tuesday but got lost in the flurry of staff reductions. We will update with more as layoff news comes in throughout the day.
Digital content division 20th Digital Studio, led by EVP David Worthen Brooks, has been dissolved. Brooks will be transitioning into a first-look deal with Hulu, 20th Digital’s main distributor, as an independent producer.
Founded in 2008 as Fox Digital Studio and acquired by Disney as part of the $71.3 billion 2019 deal for key Fox assets, 20th Digital Studio, most recently part of Disney General Entertainment Content, developed, funded and produced short-form, branded and digital genre content from emerging filmmakers.
It is known for the Bite Size Halloween shorts, for which the unit signed a deal with Hulu last year to turn into nine horror features.
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Also hit by layoffs was D23, the official fan club for the Walt Disney Co. Founded in 2009, the organization is mostly known for the biennial D23 Expo fan confab, with the next one slated for September.
The size of the cuts is in the double-digits, with some sources indicating that as much as a quarter of the staff or more was affected amid speculation that the division may be restructured.
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The second round of Disney layoffs so far has impacted a number of TV and film divisions, including ABC, Freeform, ABC Signature, 20th Television, Disney+, Disney Branded Entertainment, Hulu, Disney TV Animation, Walt Disney Television Alternative and Searchlight, with Disney Television Studios marketing and first-run syndication among the units getting dissolved and a number of areas being consolidated.
Source: Deadline
